In The System – January 30, 2023

By JD Lagrange – In The System has become a very popular feature with our readers. This week, let’s see how the team’s top prospects are progressing. The far right column shows how the players are trending based on the previous week. Remember that this is in no way some expert dissection and in-depth analysis, but rather an overview at one point in time about how those young prospects are producing at their respective level.

Skaters

First, let’s have a look at the skaters before turning our attention to the goaltenders.

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PTS/GP	PIM	+/-	TREND
Riley Kidney (C)	Gatineau Olympiques	QMJHL	39	20	47	67	1.72	30	+13	⬆️
Joshua Roy (W/C)	Sherbrooke Phoenix	QMJHL	34	25	32	57	1.68	10	+33	⬇️
Sean Farrell (C/LW)	Harvard Univ.	NCAA	21	12	22	34	1.62	12	+13	⬆️
Jared Davidson (C)	Seattle Thunderbirds	WHL	39	25	34	59	1.51	40	+27	➡️
Lane Hutson (D)	Boston Univ.	NCAA	24	9	22	31	1.29	18	+19	⬆️
Cedrick Guindon (LW/C)	Owen Sound Attack	OHL	45	17	38	55	1.22	8	+9	⬆️
Owen Beck (C)	Peterborough Petes	OHL	38	19	26	45	1.18	20	+11	⬇️
Vinzenz Rohrer (C/RW)	Ottawa 67's	OHL	31	13	22	35	1.13	14	+21	⬇️
Filip Mesar (RW/C)	Kitchener Rangers	OHL	27	11	15	26	0.96	8	-12	⬇️
Logan Mailloux (D)	London Knights	OHL	36	13	18	31	0.86	48	+11	⬇️
Jesse Ylönen (RW)	Laval Rocket	AHL	34	8	19	27	0.79	16	-4	➡️
Nicolas Beaudin	Laval Rocket	AHL	20	2	12	14	0.70	18	+7	➡️
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard	Laval Rocket	AHL	37	15	10	25	0.68	20	-2	➡️
Xavier Simoneau (C)	Laval Rocket	AHL	35	5	18	23	0.66	31	-6	➡️
Justin Barron (D)	Laval Rocket	AHL	25	7	9	16	0.64	6	-3	➡️
Luke Tuch (LW)	Boston Univ.	NCAA	25	7	9	16	0.64	11	+8	⬆️
Rhett Pitlick (LW)	Univ. of Minnesota	NCAA	28	8	7	15	0.54	16	+8	➡️
Oliver Kapanen (C)	KalPa	Liiga	40	8	11	19	0.48	26	+3	⬆️
Miguël Tourigny (D)	HK Dukla Trencin	Slovakia	29	3	11	14	0.48	33	-11	⬇️
Emil Heineman	Leksands IF	SHL	21	5	4	9	0.43	6	-4	⬆️
Jayden Struble (D)	Northeastern Univ.	NCAA	20	1	7	8	0.40	52	+2	➡️
Jack Gorniak (LW/C)	Univ. Wisconsin	NCAA	23	3	6	9	0.39	26	+2	➡️
Blake Biondi (C)	Univ. Minnesota-Duluth	NCAA	17	3	3	6	0.35	4	-4	➡️
Mattias Norlinder (D)	Laval Rocket	AHL	40	1	7	8	0.20	14	-9	⬆️
Jan Mysak (C/LW)	Laval Rocket	AHL	20	2	1	3	0.15	4	-7	➡️

Joshua Roy, who has been at the top in points per game all year, has been dethroned by Riley Kidney, thanks to a 2.75 pts/gp pace since traded to Gatineau. Sean Farrell has closed the gap in the top-3 as well with an excellent week. Lane Hutson is also continuing his steady climb to the top.

Owen Beck, who averaged 1.37 pts/gp in Mississauga, is struggling since the trade to Peterborough, averaging only 0.50 pts/gp. Here’s hoping his one game call-up in Montreal will serve as a boost. And for the first time this season, Filip Mesar has fallen to below a point per game.

Goaltenders

And now, to the organization’s goaltending prospects…

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	GAA	Sv%	TREND
Jakub Dobes	Ohio State Univ.	NCAA	26	2.18	.921	➡️
Emmett Croteau	Waterloo Black Hawks	USHL	13	2.87	.897	➡️
Cayden Primeau	Laval Rocket	AHL	16	3.51	.892	⬆️
Frederik Dichow	Frölunda HC	SHL	10	3.25	.888	➡️
Joe Vrbetic	Trois-Rivières Lions	ECHL	16	3.69	.888	⬆️
	Laval Rocket	AHL	4	4.05	.871	➡️

It amazes me to see how few games the Canadiens’ goaltending prospects play both in Europe and outside the CHL. It’s pretty hard to develop when you have played fewer than 20 games all year at this point! Perhaps the organization needs to focus on CHL goalies if they want to see some improvement in net at the NHL level one day?

More reading…